


Stuck

by HiMiTSu



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Genre: Claustrophobia, M/M, Panic Attacks, bvs Clex, so actually 'Lex Luthor Jr'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6610366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiMiTSu/pseuds/HiMiTSu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a tumblr prompr: U make context but Lex & Clark r in an elevator just the 2 of them & a sudden power outtage or failure means they r stuck in the elevator together, lex panics bc he's claustrophobic from a childhood where his Dad has locked him in a trunk or small room , & Clark comforts lex until the firefighters come, and Lex is like now see that's real heroes and hates on Superman for being the kind of God who saves ppl but never lex</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck

**Author's Note:**

> Changed some things for the sake of the story. Also I did a little research on claustrophobia but still, since I do not suffer from it, can't claim I got everything 100% right.

The elevator door closes with a ding and Clark prepares himself for the most awkward two minutes of his life. Sharing an elevator ride with Lex Luthor should not be this stressful, but everything about the man sets Clark off. He is too unpredictable, his actions too erratic, Clark can’t even begin to understand him. And it seems the man absolutely cannot keep still. As soon as the elevator begins its descent Lex’s fingers start a constant tapping rhythm against his thigh. It’s very subtle, barely there but with Clark’s hearing it feels like someone is drumming right into his ear.

He glances at Lex and tries to pretend he did not just hear the man have a screaming match with Perry White, over Superman no less. Then again, Clark can’t imagine another reason for him to drop by the Daily Planet.

Time stretches and it feels like the elevator is barely moving so with every passing moment Clarks starts noticing more and more things about Lex Luthor. For example like he fidgets just barely, shuffling closer to the door as if it pains him to stand so close to Clark Kent, also how his eyes are trained on the digital screen and it’s countdown of numbers and under his breath he is hurrying them up. Clark might have been offended by the man’s rush to get away from him, but that would be hypocritical.

They are barely five floors down when the metal around them groans and squeaks until the cabin shudders to an abrupt stop.

“No.” Lex says resolutely, staring at the doors. It sounds like a command, harsh and unforgiving; not that it changes anything.

Clarks hones in his hearing to see if something is happening in the whole city but a quick check shows that is nothing more than a small malfunction at their building. No immediate threat to Metropolis means Clark will have to wait to be rescued the old-fashioned way. Not that he could just smash his way through the elevator roof with Lex Luthor standing by his side.

Lex Luthor, whose breathing, Clark notices, is suddenly hitching up and becoming erratic. Who is still standing by the elevator doors, staring at them with a terrifying intensity. He reaches out and smacks his palm against the metal of it and a small helpless whimper falls from his lips.

“Are you alright?” Clark asks tentatively.

Lex throws him a withering glare over his shoulder and Clark takes a step back impulsively.

“The elevator is just stuck.”

Lex’s frown relaxes but only to be replaced by a grand eye roll. “Thank you, Mr. Kent, for your invaluable input, as usual.”

“I’m just trying to say, I’m sure we’ll be out of here in no time.”

“I sure as hell hope so.” The smile that flits across Lex’s face is his usual friendly grin, but it’s tight at the corners of his mouth, lips pressing together with such force they are stretching into one thin line; it disappears as quickly as it comes and Lex turns away, once again hypnotized by the doors, which are not opening in the nearest half-hour from what Clark hears of the conversation outside. With nothing else to focus on it’s only natural Clark’s senses turn to the other man. His breathing is forcefully slow, he is taking deep breathes and letting the air out slowly – it’s not natural and Clark catches on.

“There is nothing to be worried about.”

A glare he receives for that is severe; Clark can admit this was not his brightest moment. He tries a different tactic. “It’s gonna be fine. They’ll get us out of here any minute now.”

“Omnipresent, are you?”

When Clark frowns in confusion he continues, “Know everything that’s going on outside of this small metal box?” At least snark seems to help him calm down. Lex jams his finger at the call button on the panel but it doesn’t work. For such a big company Daily Planet is severely underfunded.

“Seriously?” Lex mutters angrily and pushes at it with the flat of his hand. Helpless, he steps away.

Clark sees his hands clench and hears his breathing grow short again. Lex’s heartbeat, rhythm steady but too fast, is a dull echo in his ears. It’s obvious something is wrong, but awkwardness makes him hang back, the idea of comforting Lex Luthor so surrealistic he allows it keep him away. When he notices the slight shaking of Lex’s small frame though he knows something has to be done.

“Do you need help?”

“No.” The reply is instant and so full of disdain it makes Clark recoil from the force of it.

“Please, let me…” he stumbles over the word ‘help’, knowing that’s what set Lex off, but can’t find a better way to say it. “Please.” Clark knows his next move is a mistake the second after he reaches out. His hand doesn’t come anywhere close enough to Lex but it is smacked vigorously away nonetheless.

“Don’t! Don’t touch me.” Ferocity in Lex’s eyes is burning hot, barely on this side of madness. He is shaking allover now, shallow breaths wheezing through his lips. A flush rises to his cheeks to accompany the feverish gaze.

Clark raises both hands to show he means no harm but he is not sure Lex understands. The man seems to be in the world of his own, all alone fighting this rising panic.

“Please let me help you get through this,” Clark is pleading and he has no idea where this urge to save an enemy of his comes from, but he is desperate for Lex to accept his help. Lex shakes his head, a jerking move makes hair fall over his eyes, red strands a mess. ”I don’t need anyone’s help.”

His voice is quiet but he is speaking with such conviction, like he memorized the words from a manual. “I can do this on my own. I don’t need anyone.”

“Alright,” Clark’s soothing words dissolve in the air before their meaning can reach Lex – he is not listening anymore. “I am not weak!” He spits out, all rage and bitterness.

The outburst takes too much from his already weakened body and he stumbles and crashes on his knees to the floor. Clark goes with him, settling on one knee, and keeps talking, hoping the soothing tone could have more effect than the words themselves. “Hey, it’s alright. You are safe. Everything is alright. Nothing is going to hurt you. _No one_ is going to hurt you.” Clark doesn’t know where the words are coming from, an instinct to comfort tuned to Lex’s terror. He reaches out again but especially careful this time, palm up – just offering his hand.

Lex’s breathing hitches, he starts gulping air like he can’t get enough .

“Hey, hey…juts breath with me, alright?” Clark says urgently, catching Lex’s eyes. “Breathe with me.” He takes a deep breath in and then slowly out, repeats again and again, until Lex starts repeating and his own breathing slows down along with the frantic heartbeat. The confusion fades away from his eyes.

“Where are your heroes now?” Lex asks with sudden fury. He is pale and trembling and weak, kneeling on the floor as he braces on one shaking arm, but he is clinging to this unexpected anger like to a lifeline. “Where is your favorite Superman with his bleeding heart and a god complex? You worship him, you… _believe_ in him,” Lex spits the words out, his sickly face contorted into a grimace of hate. “Will he save you? Yes. Because he chose you and you follow him blindly, not seeing that he is nothing but an egomaniac with too much power.”

“He does his best to help everyone…” It sounds weak even to Clark’s ears and the argument weathers and dies under Lex’s burning stare.

A sound falls from Lex’s pale lips, brittle and horrible. “Well here I am, about to fall to pieces and what do I get? You and your useless words when all I need are actions.”

His fingers clench against the elevator floor as if he is trying to dig them into the metal to center himself. Lex needs to find balance, reach some calm, but he seems to be falling more off his axis with every passing moment. Clark feels so absolutely useless, like he had not felt in a long time. Unable to help.

“Superman is nothing but a fraud and you, Clark Kent, are bowing to false god.”

Met with this crazy conviction - the searing words that maybe even ring the truth, words that bring back Clark’s oldest fears and insecurities - he can’t find the will to fight it. He allows Lex’s hate wash over him, as Superman and as Clark Kent, and gulps down the sudden foul taste in his mouth. It’s like he is under the spell, it makes him weak under the influence of Lex’s angry convictions.

Lex opens his lips to continue the rant and destroy the rest of Clark’s sanity but the lights flicker at that moment and the elevator starts its slow but sure descent again. Lex looks up at the lights, breathing in, and jumps to his feet to press a button to the nearest floor. He stabs the one for the floor above and makes an irritated grunt but does not try again. He is still shaking horribly.

Clark picks himself up slowly. “Maybe you are right,” he says to Lex who is practically bouncing on his toes, waiting for this ride to end. “Superman can’t save everyone. Doesn’t mean he is not trying. Doesn’t mean he is not feeling…”

“Regret?” Lex lifts his eyebrows and tilts his head. “Don’t try to feed me those lines, Clark.”

There is no changing his mind, it’s clear as day, but Clark aches with the need to make Lex understand. To make Lex hate Superman at little less.

The elevator stops, doors slide open torturously slow and Lex stumbles through the threshold. There is a small crowd in the Daily Planet lobby, pretending not to look at them in interest. Lex is desperate to get out, but he pauses still to glance at Clark.

“Think about this, won’t you? If Superman had the power to save everyone, there still will be people he’ll _chose_ not to help. People he deems not worth saving.” _Like me_ , hangs in the air between the two of them but Lex darts away before it could be turned into words.

But I would save you, Clark thinks in wonder. Every time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am still accepting prompts!:) You can send any to my tumblr: mysteryismyart.


End file.
